At 10:36 PM +0000 9/17/08, oryoki2000 wrote:
>Leonard Lombardo has published measurements of noise added
>by the line input on many small recorders. Leonard did
>these tests to see how the recorders performed with his battery
>powered preamp. It's a unique body of work.
>
>The reports are scattered across his web pages and the
>Tapers Section forums. A place to start to locate the
>reports is this page
><http://www.sonicstudios.com/tips.htm#decks>http://www.sonicstudios.com/ti=
ps.htm#decks
>
>My eyeball reading of the charts Leonard published are
>summarized below. Please note that all machines would
>generate better numbers if measuring using a cable with
>1000 ohm resistor only, instead of connected to Leonard's
>PA-3SX preamp.
>
>Line input noise, measured across spectrum 0 Hz to 20,000 Hz
>
>below -120dB:
>Sony PCM-D50
>
>below -116dB:
>Zoom H2, Marantz PMD620, Edirol R-09HR, M-Audio Microtrack 2496
>
>below -112dB:
>Olympus LS-10
>
>uneven results
>Microtrack 2 mostly below -114 dB, but with spikes above -108 dB
>
>--oryoki
>
Thanks Oryoki. I recall the argument he makes around using his pre.
One has to be careful to not confuse these numbers with the _mic
input_ levels like those in Raimund's charts. Perhaps a reader with
more electronics knowledge than I can elaborate for us, but I believe
the signal to noise ratio for a line level input can be considerably
lower without audible noise introduced. I've used my MP2 pre with the
-10dB line inputs of many MD and DAT recorder models with no noise
compromise. Mic self-noise has always masked the noise contributed by
the line level amp circuitry by a large margin.
Curt is smart to not assume basic performance features with the lower
cost recorders, but in this case, I thinks its not too risky to
assume that the line input on any of the units will meet his
requirements and then buy the unit from a place that will allow one
to return it should it prove to be an exception. I'd trust this means
of evaluating critical noise performance more than using bench tests
numbers to influence recorder choice. Rob D.
--
"While a picture is worth a thousand words, a
sound is worth a thousand pictures." R. Murray Schafer via Bernie Krause
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